A Shinobi Musical
by NotJustAnotherHuman
Summary: After doing the Fanfiction-Music Meme, I felt inspired to match songs with my favorite shinobi... and this is the result. Enjoy! Nejiten Sasusaku slight Naruhina All chapters are one-shots, and in different styles, so read more than just the first!
1. Dieu que le Monde est Injuste

« Dieu que le monde est injuste  
Lui seigneur et moi vaurien  
Il te donnera la lune  
Toi qui ne demandais rien »

- Garou « Dieu que le Monde est Injuste »

Though it may amaze some, Lee did not constantly exude his 'youthfulness.' Nor was he oblivious to the realities of the world. 

Today was one of these moments. 

He had walked into the training grounds on time, smiling like usual. Tenten and Neji had just finished their warm-up, and sat against an ancient tree, sharing a water bottle. 

Immediately he had called a two-on-one spar, exclaiming how he would beat their youthful teamwork. 

They had agreed, seeing no harm in exercising such an essential aspect to any mission. And they did almost all their missions together, being the most effective duo in Konoha. 

But once the spar started, they immediately noted the change in his behavior. His smile faded away, and his movements were brash, angry, and uncoordinated. He allowed them more fatal openings then a poorly trained rabbit. 

Flitting across the trees, Tenten ran behind him, waiting for the perfect moment to pin him to a tree. Neji landed in front of Lee, engaging him in a brief taijustsu battle. Lee whipped his leg at Neji's face, grossly overestimating the distance and hitting a tree instead. 

Just as quickly as it had happened, they separated, Lee flinging himself back into the shadowy cover of the trees. But it was too late, they had both seen the grim line of his mouth and the look of self-hate in his eyes. 

Tenten and Neji looked at each other, he'd tell them when he's ready. Simultaneously they return to the game of elaborate cat(s)-and-mouse.

Two hours later Neji stopped the spar. Neither side had won, the duo too afraid of Lee's self-destructive fighting to really fight him. Instead it had turned into a mock-chase, tracking each other though the thick forest circling their training grounds. 

"Training is over for the day, we need to get ready for the wedd-" Neji began, not daring to finish the sentence in the current company. Silently he looked over to Tenten, sudden realization coming to them both. 

"Oh." Was all Tenten could say at first, lowering her gaze to the ground and then back up to Lee. "Lee, you don't…" She began again, but the sentence remained forever unfinished. 

Tears had appeared in the corner of Lee's eyes, as he hung his head. 

"Neji was right," he pronounced in a shaky voice. "Losers cannot achieve greatness, no matter how much they train."

With that said he collapsed into Tenten's arms, sobbing. 

"Lee, we all know that's not true… You have achieved great things, Neji was wrong." She said, patting his head while glaring at her other teammate who was standing still, not helping in the least. "Hell, Naruto managed to become a decent shinobi. But even so, it's only natural for you to not achieve everything. Nobody's life is perfect."

He did not respond, but he did stop crying after a while. 

Finally Neji decided to speak up, and Tenten sorely wished that what he would say wouldn't make everything worse. He was just not the sentimental type. 

"As a Hyuuga, I must attend, no matter how painful it will be. If you do not feel strong enough to attend I can tell them that you aren't feeling well…" he said softly, almost seeming frail. 

"I guess we just all want to be in their place, huh?" Lee said shakily, a wry smile on his face. 

"Yeah, Sasuke and Sakura have got it good." Tenten said, helping Lee to his feet and glancing over to Neji. 

"I will attend. I must at least congratulate them of their youthful union." Lee said, standing up a little straighter than was really necessary. 

"We'll get through this… somehow." Tenten whispered to herself, "We always do, no matter what."

AN--

Wow… this might be the saddest thing I've ever written. I feel really bad for doing that to them. Cries

And for those who were wondering what the hell the quote is, it's from the "Notre Dame de Paris" musical, which has an awesome soundtrack, whether or not you know the language. Listen to it, it rocks. 

Quote roughly translated:

"God the world is unjust 

Him a lord and me a good-for-nothing 

He will give you to the moon 

You who did not ask for anything"

Review?


	2. Frontline

"When it's over, we can say, "Well done"

"Everybody, with your fists raised high!  
Let me hear your battle cry tonight!  
Stand beside, or step aside;  
We're on the frontline"

- Pillar "Frontline"

To the naked eye, there was nothing abnormal about the forest. Nocturnal animals were scurrying across the undergrowth, hiding from the elegant birds of prey circling lazily in the cloudless sky. 

A squirrel was scampering across the thick boughs of his tree. He had spent the day gathering nuts, and had gone much farther than he had expected. Thus he was running home, trying to steer clear of the open spaces where the vigilant owl would spot him. 

He was almost back to his hole; he had started to recognize the familiar marks in the bark of his tree, the gnarled stump of where a branch had once grown. Jumping quicker now, he climbed the trunk, making his way to the middle of the tree. There was the thickest branch, and right next to it, his hideout. 

But when he reached his branch, he froze. 

There was something - large, black and silent – perched on the branch. The top of It moved slightly, letting moonlight glint against something the squirrel knew to be eyes. 

Eyes of a predator. 

Terrified, he froze, hoping to blend in with the bark. The thing knew he was there; It looked at him for a couple seconds before turning its head forward. He realized that It was looking for a different prey, scanning the trees in front of It with only the night air and a squirrel knowing it was there. 

Silently, as to not disturb It, the squirrel entered his hole and curled into a protective ball. It had scared him, but it had also made him curious. 

A few moments later he battled and lost to the urge to poke his little head out to see It again. 

It was still there, though it took him a few moments to figure out where. It had not changed position at all, still crouched on the branch, black against the starry sky. 

It had found its prey though. Its eyes were locked forward, following the slow and silent movement of something on the forest floor. 

Then it moved. 

Slowly It pulled a white face, and attached it to It's own face. The moonlight shone across its bright surface, hiding Its eyes from the squirrel. It reached back into the pouch from which the face had come, and came back out with cold, gleaming claws linked between Its fingers. 

Then It leaped off the branch, diving down into the forest like a bird of prey diving for his next meal. 

The next morning, the air held the metallic smell of death. Poking his head back out, the squirrel crawled along the branch, seeing the wet sheen of blood splattered a couple trees over. 

Continuing along the branch to get a better view of Its kill, the squirrel walked straight into a nut. 

Sniffing carefully, he deemed it comestible, even thought it smelt slightly metallic. 

AN--

Does anyone like this? I'm not too sure how the perspective will come through to people who don't exactly know all of the subtleties and backing for this. Like it, understood it, confused? REVIEW!!

And can anyone guess who 'It' is?


	3. Remember the Name

"This is ten percent luck, twenty percent skill

"This is ten percent luck, twenty percent skill,  
Fifteen percent concentrated power of will,  
Five percent pleasure, fifty percent pain,  
And a hundred percent reason to remember the name!"

- Fort Minor "Remember the Name"

There are many things in this world that are described through statistics, in fact there are so many things in this world most things are talked about in statistics. For example: only thirty four percent of the population of konoha is shinobi. That's a simple statistic, and not an unusual one… most other villages are also divided along such lines. It's economical that way.

Another statistic is that, within all weapon-based shinobi, only about two percent master more than kunai, senbon, shuriken and their specialty weapon. The two percent are called weapon masters… the other ninety-eight; weapon specialist. Within the grouping 'weapon master,' only a rough fifty percent are expect to survive their first year as a gennin… and a whole ten percent expected to live into their twenties. It's not that surprising that there is so few of them, is it now?

Konoha has one shinobi belonging to the point-zero-zero-one-seven percent of the global population. It does not boast about her, the very definition of a statistic is to be a nameless number. Everything about her is numbers; her one hundred percent accuracy to the four hundred fifty-seven missions she has completed to date and the twenty-three that she had to abandon.

Hell, her mind works in percentages and calculations. For every move she makes, she has already equated the movements needed, at what angles and the amount of strength necessary. In the midst of a fight, moves are picked through their chance of survival; percentage-wise.

If you were to ask a self-titled future Hokage, he'd say that even her name resembled statistics. Two tens: like a perfect score or the multiplicative factors of the greatest possible percentage. It seems only natural for her to be classified and analyzed as numbers.

But then some would say that a person couldn't be described only through numbers and percents. Then again, some believe that shinobi aren't truly people at all… shinobi tend to shed their humanity as soon as they accept their first assassination mission, the other become mentally unstable.

The truth is that nothing can be delineated in its entirety through statistics. Numbers can only represent quantitative aspects, and there's more to life than figures. Life incorporates much more than a ninety-five percent mission completion rate or a seat as one of the thirty-two weapon masters in existence today.

But no matter how incompletely the statistics describe her, they do a hell of a good job describing why her opposition trembles in her presence. Scratch that, most don't even have time to tremble.

AN:

Wow… this thing is barely 500 words… cries… so short!!

Anyways, what do you think of it? Brings out the hypnotism pendulum REVEIW!!

And if you liked this story, check out TeaLeavesGreen's "The Walking Dead"


	4. Upon These Stones Building the Barricade

"There's room at the top they are telling you still

"Each man to his duty

And don't be afraid.  
Wait! I will need a report  
On the strength of the foe.

I can find out the truth  
I know their ways;  
Fought their wars,

Served my time"

-Les Miserables "Upon these Stones (Building the Barricade)"

War is part of human behavior; one person has something the other wants, and they fight for it. When the conflict happens between powerhouse countries – especially powerhouse countries whose economy is centered on the creation of human war machines – the conflict escalates beyond imagination.

"The last temple has fallen, other warrior-priests are retreating back here." Panted a young bald-headed boy.

"How big is Amegakure's force?" A big-busted woman asked from the biggest chair in the room.

"The main force seems to be about five hundred or so. It was reported that there are a couple back-up forces, we're guessing half as small." The messenger responded, accepting a glass of water from one of the officials seated around the large wooden table. Maps and folders emptied of their contents were strewn across it, accompanied by hastily scribbled strategies.

"Shit." Muttered the Gondaime, slamming her fist down on the table.

"Guessing?" asked the youngest one seated at the table, leaning back lazily into his own chair.

"Our scouts cannot get close enough to accurately estimate their numbers." The messenger replied, observing as faces fell all across the table.

"What I kind of monsters are these people?" asked a graying old man.

"I wouldn't call them monsters yet. So far I believe we are pretty evenly matched." The Gondaime answered with a slight smile.

"What do you mean? Even with only one back up force they outnumber us, and they've managed to barrel their way through half of the fire country, opposed at eight temples along the way, in just short of a week. We've already lost!" a man cried out, waving his arms all around him.

"True, we are outnumbered; seven hundred to who knows how many. But our shinobi are trained to the highest standards. And we have the home field advantage. As we speak I have five teams, under the instruction of Tenten and Yuuhi Kurenai, setting up traps along the two circles drawn on this map." Tsunade said, digging through the pile on her desk for the proper map. Once she found it, she placed it in the middle, letting her advisors see the two lines encircling Konoha.

"Every able bodied civilian is also helping, either building a series of trenches fifty meters from the wall or gathering basic necessities such as food and water. The hospital's been recruiting new staff, and they've been modifying a couple apartment complexes for the influx of wounded. From what I've heard from Sakura, their only problem now is there isn't enough intensive care equipment and properly trained surgeon-medics. The rest of the civilians, as well as shinobi children, are being lead to the safe grounds."

"So, how much time do we have until they arrive?" Shikamaru asked, turning to the messenger once Tsunade was done convincing the elders that no, Konoha was not doomed yet.

"What's left of the priests should come within the next couple hours, and I'm guessing that Amegakure's main force will arrive late tomorrow." The messenger replied automatically.

"Very well, I might as well go see how my village is going now that all this is settled." Tsunade said, getting up from her chair and making her way to the door. Half way through her walk her left arm made a barely visible jabbing motion, sending the messenger down to the floor.

"ANBU! Send him to the interrogation squad." She declared, making two masked figures appear on each side of the fallen boy.

"Wha? Gondaime what is going on here?!" asked a mildly outraged elderly woman.

"Seriously how stupid do the rain shinobi think we are?" Tsunade asked to herself as she continued on her way out the door.

"Does anyone have any idea what's going on here?" the elderly woman asked to her fellow advisors. Most shrugged, as in the dark as she was.

Shikamaru was the one to speak up.

"It's simple really. Normally when someone has a bloody hole in their clothing, there's an injury to accompany it. And, personally, I wouldn't even entertain the thought of shaving when my home is being attacked, much less leave such obvious marks of it being the first time to shave my head." Said Shikamaru, a slight laugh in his voice. "If they are all like this, this war will be a piece of cake… Too bad he was probably sent here to make us think exactly that."


	5. O Julissi

"Pokoli sestro moja kona  
Pokoli meni dita boja  
Jalina pitsu marusinja  
Kolosali krokodili

O julissi na jalyni,  
O julissi na dytini  
O bulo diti non slukati  
Sestrone dina katsu"

- Ishtar "O Julissi"

Their path home from missions was the same every time, in fact Tenten was surprised there wasn't a rut in the road they walked. She and Neji were on missions often, quality shinobi were always in high demand, and more often than not they were paired together on missions. So little Hizashi would be left home alone.

Of course Tenten's lack of maternal instinct found nothing wrong with that idea. The kid was nearly four; he could certainly take care of himself for a couple days at least! If not, she had failed as a surrogate mother. However, Neji had decided that he did not want to risk having his miniature clone all alone, and he was sent over to the Uchiha household.

It's not that Hizashi didn't like it there, and neither Sasuke, the resident babysitter for the rookie twelve's children, nor Sakura was anything but kind to the child. It's just that Hizashi seemed to pick up strange… habits there.

For example, a few months ago Hizashi had observed Yoshi's chakra control training, something that he had instantly attempted to copy. Once he realized that he was a natural at chakra control, he went through a phase where he believed it was below him to walk on the floor like regular people. Instead he tracked mud and dirt onto every vertical surface of his home, making his father almost glow with pride. Sadly, his mother had not enjoyed the phase nearly as much, since the cleaning up was left to her.

But Hizashi had been acting normally for a while now, so she hoped that it would stay for the better.

Turning the final corner unto the Uchiha's central residence, the pair heard the titanic quantity of noise that comes from a sizable grouping of children. Or an Uzumaki, both make about the same amount of clamor.

"Daichi must be here." Muttered Tenten recognizing the high-pitched squeal and rapid pounding of tiny feet on wooden floorboards.

"Hi!" screamed the tiny blonde-haired, white-eyed creature as the door opened.

"Let them in and get back here!" Screamed an immensely frustrated Uchiha from the dining room.

"FINE!" bellowed the small creature, surprising everyone with its lung capacity before turning back to its guests and forcibly dragging them inside. "Guess what! Guess what! Guess whaaatt!" Daichi continued, dragging the pair by their fingertips through the complex.

"What?" Tenten asked softly, still walking bent forward due to the child holding her fingers at knee level.

Daichi turned his head around to let the adults see his giant grin. "I dunno! You were supposed to GUESS!" declared, laughing at his 'joke.'

Finally arriving at the dining room, the trop was presented with a view of what looked like a normal family. Sasuke sat at the head of the table, calmly eating his rice. Yoshi and Keiko, his two eldest, sat on his left while a heavily pregnant Sakura was spoon-feeding the one-year-old Hitoshi on his right. At the other end of the table sat Hizashi, calmly analyzing the single grain of rice he held in his chopsticks from very angle before eating it.

As soon as they had entered the room Daichi had dashed to the empty chair next to Hizashi and started blabbering incessantly, between swallows, of the epic adventures he had gone through that day.

Sasuke and Neji nodded to each other in acknowledgment, making Sakura frown. "Sasuke! This family is already quiet enough, at least talk to guests!" she exclaimed, placing the bowl of baby food down on the table and turning to her guests. "Do you want to eat anything? I accidentally made a little too much food."

"No, but thank you. For our mission we had to sit through a four-course meal where everything was _fried_. I really can't eat anything for a while." Tenten answered with a wrinkle of her nose.

"Some people are just weird." Sakura replied in turn. Apparently neither of them particularly liked dipping perfectly edible food into hot oil.

"So, what did we miss here?" Tenten asked and the girls talked a little about the daily happenings of the village.

After a while Hizashi decided he had eaten enough and slipped out of his chair.

"Koko." He murmured to his father, tugging on his hand. "Ima nu vaah nee."

Immediately all the adults turned to the child.

"Um… what happened his time?" Tenten asked hesitantly, not really sure she wanted to know what Hizashi had decided to do.

"He seems to have invented his own language. Sasuke told me that he first started using it three days ago." Sakura answered.

"Seriously Neji, what is wrong with the Hyuuga gene pool?" Tenten said, glaring at Neji before turning to Sasuke. "Has he spoke anything in a regular language since then?"

"No." Sasuke said after a small pause.

"It seems that he really has invented his own language though. So far I've figured out that 'kihney' refers to the cat he always trails after, and 'loftoh' has something to do with him wanting food. And every time he wants to see my stomach he says 'gussah tif,' though I don't quite know what it means." Sakura explained, throwing a confused look at the pale-eyed boy.

"Gohbli aah li" Hizashi said softly, tiredly pressing his face into Neji's pantleg. Neji slowly bent down and picked the kid up, letting him sleep against his shoulder.

"At least I know that has something to do with sleep." Tenten said, long since accustomed to her adoptive son's antics. "I guess we're going home then. Thank you for taking care of him."

"You're welcome." Sakura responded automatically as Sasuke merely nodded, too occupied with calming down Daichi. Apparently the kid went into hysterics when there was no ramen available.

When back out in the cool evening air, Tenten said, "sometimes I wonder if he should see a psychologist."

"He's a Hyuuga, he was not meant to be normal. Plus the clan would never accept the fact that one of theirs needs that kind of help." Neji said softly, as to not wake the child.

"He's your child too, that pretty much insures mental instability." She said with a grin.

Not to be outdone, Neji added with a smirk, "Well, we're lucky you don't have a child then."

"You are in the hospital tomorrow." She retorted with a sickeningly sweet smile.

AN--

Okay, since no one is reviewing except my lackeys… it's poll time!!

I need to know if you'd like to see more of the kids, or I should revert to the parents. If you really like them I can start another story focusing specifically on the Uchiha Babysitting Service ™ and their charges.

Also I was considering writing a story about how Hizashi came around to be… since you've probably noticed that Tenten isn't his real mommy.

SO REVIEW AND VOTE PEOPLE!! (And telling me if I need to work in some areas of my writing won't hurt either.)


	6. Until the Day I Die

"My hands are at your throat

"My hands are at your throat  
And I think I hate you

But still we'll say, 'remember when'

Just like we always do

Just like we always do…

Until the day I die

I'll spill my heart for you, for you"

- Story of the Year "Until the Day I Die"

They had finally found him. Nearly three and a half years of searching, of fighting the strongest the world had to offer, and they had finally found him.

Seeing his broken body a hundred yards away, her mind flashed back to their first real mission together. He had almost died then too, shrouded in mist and covered in so many senbon he put a porcupine to shame.

But he had pulled through. Back then; even if he had died he would have come back to life for the sole purpose of killing his brother. It was his life's goal, more important than loyalties, friends, and maybe life itself.

She smiled softly at the idea, continuing towards him.

Now that he had achieved his life goal, would he even try to stay alive?

Not wanting to loose him - again - when she had finally found him, she unconsciously quickened her pace. Now she could see him clearly, barely twenty feet away. Already calculating what medical techniques to perform where, she completed the final few steps.

Falling down to her knees next to him, she felt the urge to bend down and cry over him like at the bridge.

But she had grown, had grown for this specific purpose. Instead of crying, she bent down over him, hands glowing with green chakra. Softly she lowered them onto his bare chest, quickly mending the target areas.

She heard the others land behind her a few moments later, Naruto whispering something about 'the teme,' but she didn't bother turning her head. Everything of her was now focused on the unconscious body before her.

"Hinata, use byakugan to look at his heart. If it speeds up or slows down at all, tell me." she said, frowning in concentration at a particularly difficult wound in his side. The Hyuuga nodded, standing behind her and gazing down at the pale skin.

An awkward silence reigned for a few minutes as Naruto fidgeted in the background, not accustomed to being useless.

"… His heart's starting to get back to normal rhythm." Hinata said and she nodded in understanding. A little further back Naruto sighed.

He was going to pull through.

While the others were too busy to notice his eyelids fluttered, trying to filter the sudden brightness surrounding him. Once his pupils grew accustomed to the blindingly blue sky, he noticed a figure, no two, hunched over him.

His survival instincts kicking in, he lunged forward to the closest one. He grabbed it by the throat, disrupting whatever it was doing.

He registered an annoyingly irritating and familiar voice screaming something about letting go, but he continued gripping the figures throat.

And his hand only tightened as glowing hands crept back onto his body, resuming their work.

He smirked with grim satisfaction as he heard gasping breaths from the figure, hyperventilating to allow more air through.

"TEME! Let her go!" cried something to his right, awaking long forgotten dreams of sunshine colored hair and cherry blossoms.

"N-Naruto, don't yell. He's in shock, anything he's not used to will only make her condition worse." A soft voice said.

An abrupt realization came with that particular combination of words. Immediately his grip slackened and the offending arm fell to the ground. The world sharpened and a soft halo of pink appeared around the figures head.

As the instincts faded, so did his consciousness. He only had the time to say one word.

"Sakura?"

AN--

Yay! My first real Sasusaku… and he tries to kill her!

I like to hurt my characters… dunno why.

REVIEW!!


	7. Deli

"Beni büyütün ağlatmayın

"Beni büyütün ağlatmayın  
Sevginiz nerde övündüğünüz  
Beni büyütün ağlatmayın  
Sahte düşlerle oyalamayın"

- Mor ve Ötesi "Deli"

He had been in here for at least four days, not counting the days he spent unconscious after Naruto had exploded unto him for hurting Sakura. So it was probably closer to a week.

And in this week, he had not heard more than a few dozen words from Sakura. Gone were the rants about how awesome he was; she didn't even ask how he was doing. She only uttered clinical one-word orders like "eat," "sit" and "swallow."

And it was driving him crazy.

Of course he hadn't said a word at all, and the constant silence was deafening. He hadn't heard such a silence since his academy years. There was always something, whether hyperactive teammates, fangirls, the screams of live experiments, or annoying redheads fighting with fish-boys, making a ruckus around him.

He was now confined to his bed, gradually forgetting how to walk, as visitors filed in front of him. Naruto came every day, bent on telling him everything that had happened since he left. That effectively broke the silence. Kakashi came every so often, reporting the trials he'd go through once he was better. ANBU members came daily, talking in hushed tones with the nurses but never saying a word to him directly.

Ino had also come once in the beginning, declaring; "You're a complete ass… and I haven't liked you in years!" before walking out.

Yet visiting hours only consisted of ninety minutes of each day. Therefore the other one thousand three hundred and fifty minutes he was left alone, in silence, with the occasional check up by whichever nurse was available.

He turned his head to the digital clock resting above the steadily beeping cardiac monitor. I read 1:14, warning that the five hours since his last checkup were coming to a close. Sakura was in charge of that set, since it involved more delicate work than just looking in the room to see if he was still alive.

It just had to be the one where he explained his problems too. No man wanted to talk about the abnormalities in his sexual behaviors with a _female_ _ex-teammate_!

Apparently the steroid-stimulant cocktail that Kabuto had so diligently pumped into his system slowed his immune system considerably, and thus every cut took triple the normal time to heal. And the hypertension developed from the steroids wasn't exactly helping either. Sakura's job was to boost his immune system, try to get his body to create it's own hormones, and give him at least a chance at normal bodily functions… and to do all that without giving in to Sasuke's addiction.

The clock switched to 1:15, and only a few seconds later Sakura slipped into the room with a tray. She placed it down on the counter opposite him and dipped her hands in the bowl of cold jelly he had become all too familiar with.

Walking over, her hands started to glow green, reflecting eerily off the goop. She pressed her hands down on his shirt, causing him to flinch in pain and at the sudden cold.

Orochimaru had really screwed him over. Not only was he hated by the large majority of the village, but he was now addicted to a half-dozen stimulants and three variations of steroids. And withdrawal symptoms are not exactly a blessing. Especially the nausea, that one was just bundles of fun.

Slowly the jelly was absorbed into his body; it's infused hormones taking place of the synthetic ones. It was a rather disturbing feeling, somewhat like having snails crawling into him, yet soothing.

With the process done, Sakura got up wordlessly and walked over to the tray. He removed the slimly shirt, letting it fall to the floor with a flop as she tore open the multitude of packets of pills he would have to swallow. So far they had been the only things he had been able to keep down, and even then only after the hormone infusion.

Yeah, thanks Orochimaru.

Sakura was about to come back and place the ten-or-so pills, most of them protein and vitamin supplements, on his bedside table, but she stopped.

"You're not supposed to be up." She said clearly, ordering him back. Instead he pushed forward, cornering her against the wall. Immediately her hands flew to protect her neck, an involuntary move that felt like a stab through the heart.

Those offending blue marks had haunted him so much in the past few days. He hadn't meant to hurt her. Well, he had meant to hurt someone, but he had thought the person meddling with his chest was trying to kill him. It had not occurred to him that the lull in the pain could be anything other than a poison.

Struggling to hold his weight after a week of constant fatigue and rest, he rested his hands against the wall for support. He quickly realized it brought their faces really close to each other's as he felt her breath hitch against his cheek. Somewhere deep inside he glowed with pride, he could still create that kind of a reaction in her.

Staring straight into her wide eyes he began; "I can't recognize you when you don't smile," effectively freezing Sakura in place. "I missed you. I _still_ miss you."

With that said, he pushed himself off the wall and returned to his bed, letting Sakura slide down the wall and cover her face with her hands. Now lying down, head tilted to watch her reaction, he finally wondered if it was the right thing to do. Especially now, while the wounds were still fresh.

Two soundless minutes later Sakura slowly removed the hands from her face, still sitting in a crouch at the base of the wall. She had come to a decision, and he was ready for just about everything.

On her face was a cross between a smile and a smirk, making him doubt his actions. And then she said the longest sentence yet, "So _you_ missed _me, _huh Sasuke?"

The reaction was immediate; his eyes widened and a tiny blush came to his impassive cheeks.

_**Shit…**_

AN--

Translation:

Raise me, don't make me cry,

Where is the love you are proud of?

Raise me, don't make me cry

Don't waste my time with fake dreams…

Whoot, second sasusaku and I made Sasuke addicted to nine drugs! And this is only the beginning. Oh, how the great ones fall! (And all the withdrawal symptoms were researched for optimum accuracy. Don't do drugs, they make you stupid.)

By the way the title of this song means insanity in Turkish. I'm not quite sure how well the lyrics match the story, but it just came to me as I was reading the translation of the lyrics and thought that it would be cool to write it.

So REVIEW!


	8. Rock You Baby

"But I couldn't help but see

"But I couldn't help but see  
That you wore your broken heart out on your sleeve  
And your loneliness could not disguise  
The beauty and the charm  
Thought if I ever get you, shattered lady, in my arms…"

- Toby Keith "Rock You Baby"

He had seen her once, during his self induced exile, even before the brief 'reunion' of team seven. The scene had replayed millions of times in his mind over the years. Haunting him.

She had been curled up in a dark corner of the local inn's dining room. He had still been under Orochimaru's jurisdiction back then, somehow being picked as the best candidate for a mission in the Fire Country because of his 'knowledge of the landscape.'

Truthfully he was being tested; there were plenty of other Konoha missing-nins available, and they would all attract a lot less attention than him. The reason he was here was probably to test his loyalty. Orochimaru still didn't trust him at this point, and Sasuke had done nothing to try and gain his favor. In fact he openly opposed the Sannin on several occasions.

And did Orochimaru really think him that weak so that he could not sense the chakra of the two badly concealed spies trailing after him since he had entered Fire's borders? No. It was an open threat, should he try to return to his former village.

He had to repress a bitter laugh at that thought. Konoha hated him then, as it hates him now. There will probably never be a time when he'll be able to return freely, and even then it would not be the same.

With the threat of rain and impending darkness, he had entered the small inn, hoping to get some information about his target and then slip out, unnoticed. He had first seen her as he had scanned the dinning hall for a potential informant. Well, he hadn't seen her, but a reclusive looking creature sitting, shadows dancing on smooth pale skin as she poked at her food. And strange urge, maybe instinct, told him that he should go to her.

He had stridden over to her and sat in the only other chair before she could even respond, though once she did exhaustion was evident throughout her entire body. They had sat in silence at first, disrupted only by a server who had silently approached them and asked Sasuke if he wanted anything.

"Tomato juice" he had responded automatically, puzzled when his works elicited a nostalgic smirk from behind the curtain of brown hair across the table. Opting for resting her head on her fist instead of pointlessly rearranging the long-cold food, she looked up at him.

Pained green eyes glinting in the dim light, she spoke softly, "You remind me of someone I knew not too long ago… he had the same self-assured air as you do. And he liked tomatoes too, a bit obsessed with them if you ask me."

At this point his drink had arrived, but it remained untouched in front of him.

"He left me though, he left everyone he had ever known. For a madman." She continued on once she realized he had no intention of stopping her. "And it's not like he let us go gently. He just walked out. But then again that was to be expected, he always did love to do things the hard and painful way."

By now Sasuke had gotten the hint, and he was pretty damned sure she knew who he was despite the genjutsu. She had always been better at sensing them.

Yet they kept the false pretenses up, perhaps waiting to see which would crack first.

"I must say, the way he left me was particularly harsh. I tried everything to keep him close; declared my feelings, even said that I'd follow him! But all he did was knock me out with a 'thank you' and leave me, vulnerable as ever, on a cold stone bench." She continued, a strange tilt entering her voice.

Anger perhaps, or dejection.

"I believe he did the right thing. I doubt you would have been happy wherever he went." Sasuke said, his voice never betraying his involvement.

"I can't say I agree with your first statement, he could at least have let me down a little gentler. But I guess the bench method fits him, since being around him was kind of like having a pet rock. A good weapon, but you still have to deceive yourself into believing its good company." She said, a smile gracing her face as she looked up into his eyes, her green ones twinkling with and undecipherable emotion. "He had about the same response rate as a rock too."

"And though I probably wouldn't have been happy there, I'm not quite ecstatic here either. For a large part of my life, my happiness has been dependent on him." She said, looking back down at the table, eyes shielded behind that offensive veil of brown. "All I wanted was for him to acknowledge me and, if possible, for him to love me back. I now know that it will never happen, and it's not a comforting thought."

"Have you ever thought what you would do if you saw him again?" Sasuke asked on impulse, just to drown himself in irony.

"Sometimes I do... My initial reaction would probably be to freeze in shock; it's not that often that you meet a long-lost bastard." He had stiffened as she called him that, realizing once more that things would never be the same.

"Thinking about it now, I'd really like to put him in my situation. But that'd be a little hard… he's hard to control emotionally, you see? But I'll settle for bashing his face in and giving him a decade long lecture, with a good beating every hour or so. Konoha probably would encourage the last one, with as much physical violence possible. They hate him nearly as much as I do." Her rant was curt short by a powerful yawn, and she stretched her arms out over her head, ruining the effect of her words until he would have time to pick them apart.

"I guess I'm going to bed then," she said as she got up and took out a numbered key from her pocket. "I hope you remember this little discussion next time you break someone's heart."

She then disappeared up the staircase, leaving Sasuke alone to drink his lukewarm tomato juice and, he later realized as the waiter carefully approached him with the tab, pay for her barely touched meal.

He had not gotten any information that night, nor would he for many nights still. But he did remember their discussion for very long… it practically haunted him.

Years later, he would see her again, frozen in shock at his change… just like she had predicted. And he would wonder to himself, always to himself, if one day he could fix the giant mess he had made for himself.

Because, quite frankly, a clan of one is not a force to be reckoned with. And he had long ago come to terms with his ancestors being born with pink tufts of hair.


	9. Pictures of You

"We are the boxers in the ring,

"We are the boxers in the ring,  
We are the bells that never sing.  
There is a title we can't win no matter how hard we must swing"

- The Last Goodnight "Pictures of You"

No one is perfect, especially not them.

They are strong. They are good at what they do. But they will never achieve perfection.

To do so would mean that everything they dream of comes true. And that certainly won't happen.

For example; no matter how often he declares a challenge, no matter how often he wins, Gai cannot seem to surpass Kakashi. Kakashi has a better lineage, after all; he's the son of Konoha's white fang. It's debatable whether or not one's students surpass the others, but Kakashi's have definitely achieved more distinction, good or bad.

Lee will also never be perfect. He's a master at taijustu, that's true. But he is not perfect at it. He sometimes slips, allowing just enough space for an enemy to strike.

He used to think that hard work could overcome everything. He now knows it can't. True; he's an excellent shinobi, but he will never be able to do ninjutsu or genjutsu. Nor will he ever be instated into ANBU for exactly that reason. The 'perfect' shinobi is well rounded, able to excel in all areas as well as having his own unbeatable techniques. That's what ANBU is looking for.

And while Neji fits the description, he has never been approached. And he knows he never will. ANBU is a very secret organization, once you become a member you are loyal to only them, and you can never leave. As long as the curse remains on his forehead, Neji will be chained to the Hyuuga's side, forbidden to enter any secretive organization.

Being a Hyuuga restricted a lot of his actions. Three quarters of the money he made from missions were automatically sent to the Hyuuga coffers, he was regularly pulled out of training or missions to attend to some Hyuuga function, and he was forced into an arranged marriage at age twenty-five. That last one had been both painful and testing to live through considering that, over the year between the declaration that he would be married and the death of is 'wife' during childbirth, his curse seal had been activated three times.

Plus Neji has way too much emotional baggage to be considered perfect. Isn't one of the basic rules of being a shinobi to keep one's emotions separate form everyday life?

And that leaves Tenten. She has a hundred percent accurate hand when it comes to throwing… a statistic that would be considered perfect by nearly anyone. But to any weapons specialist, that's just mastery – nothing special.

She is also envied for her physique, by both males and females. She is muscled in all the right places, and is much stronger than she looks. Everything about her is battle-honed, built to have the best chances when it comes to a fight.

Yet with all this perfection she is plain. She was born poor, raised poor, and eventually reached the middle class. She had brown hair, brown skin, brown eyes. Nothing stands out. She doesn't even have known parents!

In the end, it is obvious that they aren't perfect. They all have an obstacle, something that prevents them from reaching the top. Something that keeps them cornered in the shadows.

But they are okay with that. In fact it's probably better that way. Just look what being noticed did to Uchiha Sasuke.

Gai has his students, three exemplary shinobi that he is proud to have taught. They continue what he could not, and maybe, just maybe, they'll beat Kakashi for him.

Lee discovered that he didn't need ANBU. He's now a jounin sensei, with his own team to coax out of their respective shells. There's even a Hyuuga on the team, something he can't wait to see how it turns out.

For all of Neji's suffering he was rewarded with a child, Hizashi. Not exactly a normal child, but that's what happens when one has to have the curse seal activated to make him sleep with his wife. Either way, he's proud of the prodigy he spawned, despite the mental instability.

And though Tenten is plain, she has caught the eye of a prodigy of a noble clan. Even though she will never find out who her parents were, she has a large surrogate family to make up for them.

So realistically, what the appeal in perfection?


	10. Through the Wire

For a chance to be with you, I'd gladly risk it all  
Through the fire, through whatever come what may

-Through the Wire by Kanye West

"Calm down, I can do this."

How is he supposed to be calm? She's with that... that Monster.

He knows she's their strongest.

He trained her, molded her.

He knows what she can do better than anyone else.

But he can't help the nerves.

He knows their roles.

He knows he has to wait for the signal.

But he only wants to run in there and rescue his damsel in distress.

He will wait.

Face like stone. Attentive.

She feels the brush of his stare. Smiles to herself.

He never learns.

His partner talks, drink in hand.

Orange limbs move. Liquid sloshes over the rim.

Cheeks reddened. Movements sluggish. Eyes bright.

He waits.

The Monster grabs at her.

He tenses, ready to strike.

She laughs, calm.

She leans on the fence.

He is ready.

Drinks disappear.

She trips.

He is airborne.

The guards die at first blow.

Topple.

Blood sprays from the balcony.

They are gone.

Screams echo behind them.

She smiles.

Muscles relax. They survived.


End file.
